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When it comes to RPGs, until recently, the PSP has not had many. Most of them have been remakes like Final Fantasy and Persona. The release of PSPGo has almost been a rebirth for the system. There are a lot of games on the horizon for the PSP, and most of them will be offered as a UMD as well as a downloadable form.

Half Minute Hero is an original parody RPG, that offers a different style of play. This title is available as a UMD and in downloadable form through the PlayStation Network. I downloaded the game and was very happy with the results. It downloaded very fast, and has hardly any load times during play. I can’t complain at all with how Sony is offering downloadable games.

At first glance you might be discouraged by the 2D graphics of Half Minute Hero, but after listening to the stunning sound the game deserves a second chance. Marvelous Entertainment is the developer behind this parody RPG, which I really could not get into. The fast pace and three different ways to play will keep the casual gamer interested, but not so much for the hardcore RPG fans. You can play as blonde haired blue eyed hero, a princess or an evil lord, who all have unique styles of play. The hero is a side scrolling one button attack style. The princess is a shooter style, and the evil lord is a three button summon style. Each character has its own story that is all intertwined at one point. You have 30 seconds to complete each mission before advancing on the next. It doesn’t take long to figure out how to play each character and finish the missions pretty quick.

My biggest beefs with this game are the graphics and how unchallenging the game is. I did not like the 2D aspect of the game one bit. If Marvelous would have gone with stronger visuals I probably would have liked the game a great deal more. Once you play the game for five minutes it’s easy to see how each character is played and how to accomplish each mission. Playing as the hero you enter from left, your enemies enter from the right, and all you do is run at them and hit square. As the Princess you just press square, triangle, and X, same goes for the evil lord. I even played on the harder levels and really had no trouble.

Now the game being unchallenging is kind of a double edge sword because it did make the game somewhat enjoyable. It was very easy, to just sit back and enjoy the epic sound track the game offers. Hooking the PSP to your tv and sound system is a must, with this one. I was also pleased with the amount of load times in the game or lack thereof.

I feel Half Minute Hero does have a few things to offer, but gets really old really fast. Its strongest points are the soundtrack, and how easy it is to pick up play. Its downfalls are the graphics and the double edged sword of being far too easy. If you are looking for an easy RPG the game is definitely for you, but if you want something a little more challenging I would stay away from this one. I feel there are a lot better games the PSP has to offer, that are out or on the way out.